When the Broken Hill Potters Society accepted our invitation to collaborate on an exhibition for the Adelaide Fringe, we knew this exhibition was going to be something special!

Despite the extreme heat that hung over Adelaide all week, many visitors attended the launch at the Gallery on Sunday the 15th February and we were especially delighted to have a large contingent of the Broken Hill Potters and their friends and families.

Peter Goers OAM opened the exhibition with a lively address, talking about his love of Broken Hill and the importance of community art.

It was wonderful to see so many pieces sold at the opening. The work of each club was displayed separately in the front two rooms of our gallery and it was interesting to see the different signatures of each group. The regional environment was particularly evident in the Broken Hill works.  Many of these pieces were fired using the ancient pit firing methods that had been explored at weekend firings at Purnamoota station. The pieces reflected the beautiful desert landscape, and the Adelaide potters who had participated in these firings could immediately identify the connection.

In one corner of the gallery, a piece created by Carolyn Martin using the Naked Raku method, showed traces of the smoke and heat which had created intricate patterns on the pot’s surface.

Sue Andrew’s grouping of pit-fired gum leaves also attracted a lot of attention. The leaves were attached to a man-made spring that had been salvaged from a tractor and each leaf displayed different patterns and colours of nature.

The Adelaide Potters’ work reflected a more urban aesthetic with a diverse range of styles and approaches on display.  Members and friends were delighted to see some of Jan Twyerould’s teapots which have such a distinctive personality and are so very striking in design.  It was also the first time work from our new member and teacher, Steph James-Mantton had been displayed in the gallery. Steph takes much of her inspiration from woven baskets and her beautiful pieces remind the viewer of how softness and malleability of clay despite the finished article being a rigid object.

We hope to continue this fruitful collaboration next year.